Educational inclusion of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and from migrant Roma families: Implications for multi-professional working

ABSTRACT

This research examined the educational inclusion of children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and from Roma families who have migrated to England. The study was co-developed with practitioners in the field and involved: a demographic survey of deaf education services; five institutional case studies of local authority services and four individual case studies of children who are DHH and from Roma families. An intersectional approach to the analysis of the data revealed the different vulnerabilities associated with being a child who is DHH and being from a migrant Roma family in England. The study provides the first estimate of the numbers of children who are DHH and from Roma families in England. It also documents an overview of the support offered to Roma children by local authority services and offers insights into the experiences of families and children. In conclusion, it considers the implications for multi-professional practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational inclusion
• deaf
• hard of hearing
• children
• families Roma
• migration
• multi-professional working
• intersectionality

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all of the children, families and professionals who participated in this research and to the Local Authority partners, deaf and Roma organisations and academic colleagues who gave their time, support and advice so generously.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ruth Swanwick is a Professor at Leeds University School of Education where she leads the deaf education research and contributes to the MA in Deaf Education/Teacher of the Deaf Programme. Her research interests encompass childhood deafness, language, communication and learning, inclusive and bilingual education and teacher development. Her current work centres on deaf children’s multilingual language and communication resources and the development of pedagogy in deaf education. Ruth is also Director of Research and Innovation in the School of Education. Email: [email protected]

Jess Elmore is currently working as a researcher at the Learning and Work Institute.  She was the research assistant on the project: Improving the educational and social outcomes of children who are DHH from Roma families from which this paper has been written. Her research interests centre on the intersection of migration, education and information. She completed a Ph.D. exploring information sharing in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. She has previously worked as a university administrator, teacher and community development worker. Email: [email protected]

Jackie Salter is an Associate Professor in Inclusive and Deaf Education at the University of Leeds where she leads the MA in Deaf Education/Teacher of the Deaf Programme and teaches on the MA SEN Programme. Her research interests focus on how deafness shapes individuals’ perceptions, experiences and understanding of the world and how this impacts on classroom learning. She is a member of British Association for Teachers of the Deaf and the National Sensory Impairment Partnership and is leading the coordination of CPD profiles for specialist teachers within both organizations. Email: [email protected]

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of Leeds ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.